CIRCA 1763-66, LEFT FIGURE WITH IMPRESSED BAVARIAN SHIELD MARK, BACK OF BASE WITH IMPRESSED SHIELD MARK OVER INCISED MH MONOGRAM · ·6·D·

Details

A Nymphenburg white Chinoiserie group
Circa 1763-66, left figure with impressed Bavarian shield mark, back of base with impressed shield mark over incised MH monogram · ·6·D·
After F.A. Bustelli, the left figure leaning back slightly in a relaxed contra-posto, holding a large book and gently resting his left hand on his companion's back, wearing a hat, cloak and doublet, the belt buckle impressed with the Bavarian shield, the long under-robe with pendant sleeves, his companion bowing elegantly with his right hand to his forehead, his left arm concealed beneath his garments, wearing a sleeveless full-length robe over a robe with long pendant sleeves, his baggy pantaloons tied above his pointed shoes, on a shaped plinth base with a moulded waisted edge at the front and sides and pierced apertures at the back (left figure with extensive chipping to hat, left index finger a replacement, chip to pig-tail, small chip to front left corner of base, very slight chipping to edge of base)
8 3/8 in. (21.3 cm.) high

Provenance

Museo Castello del Buonconsiglio, Trento, inv. M.N. n. 504.

Literature

Alfred Ziffer, 1991, pp. 80-1, no. 41.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

This group was assembled, probably by Peter Anton Seefried, with slight variations from Bustelli's original figures. The right-hand figure is the same as lot 50, and for a coloured example of the left-hand figure in the Pflueger Collection, New York, see Hugo Morley-Fletcher Early European Porcelain & Faience, German Porcelain Catalogue, Vol. I (London, 1993), pp. 176-7. The Pflueger figure's pose is the same as the present figure with the exception of the arms. The base of the Pflueger figure is very similar to the base of this group; both are curved at the back and both have pierced apertures. It appears that, as suggested by Morley-Fletcher, these figures and groups were probably made to be supported by brackets in curved wall niches. Another similar example of the left-hand figure was sold in these Rooms on 28th March 1978, lot 174, and is now in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich.

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